Ghost In The Shell is always at the forefront of Cyberpunk, and the latest Anime incarnation is no slacker. For those needing more GITS before the live action film comes out, the teaser trailer from the animated feature film GITS 2015! Thanks to Otaku USA for the heads up on this one.
Yes, it is true; Scarlett Johansson has signed up to be Major Motoko Kusanagi, the kick-ass cyborg at the heart of Masamune Shirow’s classic Manga and Anime Ghost In The Shell for the live action version of the story. I think she is the perfect choice to play the part, and only wish I had a Tardis handy so I could jump forward in time and watch it now. Sadly, there is no live action footage available for the film yet, but here is the original Anime trailer for those few who forgot what the story is about. Thank’s to Nerdist for the heads up on this one.
This week Vice appears to be a variation on Westworld, with Bruce Willis’s character having designed a resort where anything goes. The customers can play out their wildest fantasies with robots who look and act like human beings. When one of the fembots becomes self aware and tries to escape things start getting ugly. While not genre, Blackhat is enough of a computer geek plot line to rate a mention here as well. If you are looking for something more family friendly, the animation Robodog is also out this weekend, as is Paddington.
The Scorpion King 4: Quest for Power is pretty much it this week for live action films, while DuckTales, The Movie: Treasure of the Lost Lamp does it for western animation films. The first is direct to disc, while the second hasn’t been in theaters since 1990. I could also mention John Wick, which isn’t genre but could be fun.
In Anime we get One Piece: Collection 11, because you just can’t have too many episodes about friendly pirates. A Certain Magical Index: The Movie; The Miracle of Endymion has a space elevator under construction as the setting for a battle between science and magic, with a miraculous singer as the prize. Kamijo and Index have the fight of their lives on their hands in this one. Chaos Head: The Complete Series is coming out in a S.A.V.E. edition, so you can pick up this twisted expedition into paranoia for a very small price. Finally, the parallel universe romantic fantasy Amagami SS Plus brings a continuation of the original seven stories.
The band Passepied has another animated music video with the song Zeitakuna Iiwake, which may mean Luxury Excuse. As usual for this band, I enjoy them as much for the animation work as for the music, because it is always an interesting visual to go with the excellent sound.
I already knew I wanted to see the new movie from Neill Blomkamp, Chappie, but with this trailer I am getting seriously psyched. It will hit the big screen on March 6th, and I will be in the theater for this one.